This invention relates to a disposable umbrella and more particularly to a flat folding umbrella type protector which may be made of inexpensive material such as corrugated board or other planar material such as cardboard and which may be folded, when closed, so that it may be conveniently stored or arranged in a stack and dispensed from an article dispensing machine in the manner that newspapers and shopping bags are dispensed.
Prior to the instant invention, there have been attempts at producing disposable umbrellas from simple planar materials, but such prior devices have not achieved acceptance in the trade and by the consumer because they are awkward to use, or they are too expensive to produce.
The umbrella in accordance with the invention can be made on automatic handling machines having gluing equipment and folding mechanism. The parts or elements of the umbrella are simply die cut. The operation of the disposable umbrella is simple and fool-proof. The umbrella is easy to hold when open, easy to store when closed and operates in a manner in which the comsumer expects it to operate.